Maternal Instincts
by EbonyDraygon
Summary: Set mid season 4. When Keller is taken prisoner by a group of mercenaries, the last thing she expected to do was find and befriend a wraith toddler. But will her decision be approved by the rest of Atlantis?


Maternal Instincts

Keller tried to keep her cool as she was dragged along, the blindfold making it impossible for her to know where she was going. She had heard them dial the gate and had been dragged through the open wormhole. Try as she might, she could barely keep a lid on her rising terror. She was alone. There was no Teyla to help her through and keep her strong this time.

She heard the change in location, harsh voices and the sound of men training. The sounds dulled down as she and her escorts approached and Keller was intimidated by the whistles and cat-calls directed her way.

"She's a nice one."

"Here pretty pretty."

"Hope Tralken lets us play with you when he's had his fill!"

Keller's breathing became more rapid as they progressed further through the camp and the calls to her became luder and cruder. She felt the sudden chill of the shade as she was taken inside a building. One of her captors kicked her in the back of the knees, making her cry out as she fell to the ground.

"That's no way to treat a lady, lads. Especially one of the fine Lantian flowers."

Keller felt a course hand stroke her chin, making her shudder. That got her a chuckle from her tormenter, and the hand started to take a few more liberties. She momentary froze as she felt the hand trace its way down her neck and start to unzip her jacket. She lashed out in part fear, part instinct, biting the hand hard with her teeth. The man growled and struck her across the face with his other hand. Keller crashed to the floor in a daze.

"Put her in the charnel house, until she learns some manners," he barked to the unseen men surrounding Keller. She felt herself being roughly dragged up from the floor and out the door.

The taste of his blood mingled in her mouth with her own, making her feel ill. Her guards took little heed at the pain they caused her, holding onto her arms hard enough to bruise and pulling her hair to make her go the direction they wanted. There was the sound of a door being unlocked and creak open. The overwhelming smell of death and decay filled Keller's nostrils, threatening to make her vomit.

"Make yourself comfy," one of her tormenters hissed in her ear, before shoving her into the oppressing darkness, laced with stench of death.

***

She spent the first few moments trying not to breathe.

The oppressive stink weighed heavily on her like a blanket. The last thing she felt like doing now was removing her blindfold. It was bad enough smelling the dead in here and trying her best not to touch them, but she didn't want to have to see them too.

A whimpering sound to her right caught her attention. Like something in pain.

Keller froze. Was there something alive in here, besides her? The sound came again, a pitiful mewling that confirmed she had company.

"Who's there?" she called out, doing her best not to gag. Her companion merely voiced a terrified sob.

Keller felt herself tentatively pull off the blindfold with her bound hands. She couldn't help it, the sound was so pitiful and scared, and she felt drawn to comfort it in whatever way she could. She immediately shrank back at the grizzly sight in the gloom of the charnel house. On the floor in front of her was a pale corpse. Not just any corpse. A wraith corpse. A child's corpse. Her frightened eyes drank in the scene before her. Almost half a dozen dead wraith children, littering the charnel house floor like broken dolls. Up on the walls were severed wraith feeding arms, the black blood staining the walls. Keller could feel herself starting to hyperventilate at the gory display, causing her to retch at the smell from the dead.

There was a flash of green from one of the darkened corners. Keller shrieked, and the mysterious voice wailed too.

"Get a grip on yourself!" she muttered, her voice still too high with fear. "It's okay," she said to the green glow, "I'm not going to hurt you."

The two green orbs looked at Keller and blinked. She tried to make her way towards them, doing her best to avoid stepping on the tiny bodies, but the glow seemed to shrink away.

"It's okay," she said, doing her best to be soothing despite her own fear, "it's okay. I don't want to hurt you." The whimpering came again and she finally put two and two together. She felt a cold emptiness filling her in place of her fear of these… these mercenaries! The lengths of their brutality sickened her. She held out her bound hands in a gesture of friendship. She made sure that her body appeared relaxed and tried not to be too bothered by their surroundings.

"I'm Jennifer," she said in what she hoped was a clam manner, "Jennifer Keller. Do you have a name?"

She felt a tiny hand grab two of her fingers, trying to tug them towards it. Keller gently leaned forwards, allowing herself to be pulled closer to the green glows. She did her best not to wince as she felt the tiny nails dig into her fingers. She was able to make out the form of a little wraith child in the gloom, her fingers clasped tightly in a little fist as his eyes, so like a cat's, looked over the trapped digits with caution.

"Hi there, little one," Jennifer said. The little wraith blinked at her, his mop of dirty white hair falling in front of his reflective eyes. She smiled at him, hoping to make some sort of connection.

"You got a name?" she asked again, but the wraith kid just blinked at her owlishly. The sudden sound of the door being unlocked caused the child to whimper again.

"It's okay," Keller said, pulling the frightened infant towards her, hugging him awkwardly to her, "I'm not going to let them hurt you." The wraith child responded by snuggling into her chest, where she could feel him shaking.

"Aren't we cosy," drawled a voice from the door. Keller yelped as she felt her hair being pulled, dragging her backwards. The wraith child started to shriek, an unearthly sound that made her teeth ache.

"Shut ya mouth," snarled the man, and Keller saw someone kick the tiny wraith, sending him crashing into a blood-stained wall.

"Leave him alone!" Keller shouted. "He's just a kid!"

"Aww, look who wants to mother the wraithling brat," another voice cackle. His cohorts sniggered as she was dragged to her feet. One of the mercenaries went over and picked up the dazed wraith boy and presented him to her.

"There you are, deary. Here's ya little lad, safe and sound." Hesitantly, Keller took the dazed child from the mercenary's arms, earning her another peal of laughter.

With a shove, they forced her from the charnel house, the wraith child still cradled in her arms.

***

Their leader seemed to be in a better mood than before. He sat, dressed in furs and scars, on a throne-like chair, eyeing Keller's body. She tried to ignore him, concentrating her efforts on the wraith boy. When she had entered, and he had seen the child she carried in her arms, the man had broken out into a gap-toothed grin. He demanded that she and her charge sat at the base of his throne and ordered someone to bring refreshments for "his Lantian beauty and her young lad".

She continued to gently wash some of the dried blood and grim from the kid's face. He kept looking up at her, as if convincing himself that she was real. She stroked his now almost-white hair, still damp from her cleaning. The wraith child snuggled into her, and made what sounded like attempts to purr. Keller grinned and kissed the top of his head. Snuggled in her lap like this, she could almost convince herself that she was snuggling a large cat, rather than a tiny wraith. She immediately knew that she was going to dub him "Kitten" and going to get so much stick from Sheppard and the others when they found out. Though they'd have to rescue her first. What could be taking them so long?

Keller became aware of a group of men approaching. She looked up to see four men standing before the mercenary-king's throne. They seemed to be hard men, their faces lined with scars and weathered from a tough life. Kitten shifted slightly in her lap, and she stroked his hair to sooth him. The group seemed to be mesmerized by the sight of her and a wraith child.

"Ye came t' deal with me," growled her captor, "not to gawp at my Lantian lovely and a wraith boy."

So that's why she was still alive. She was a prize, a statement of power. Both her and Kitten. The mercenary-king leaned down from his throne to brush Keller's hair.

"Run along my dear," he crooned to her. She wanted to flinch and pull away from his touch, but the glint in his eye told her to play along in front of these others. "Go and make yourself pretty. I'll come t' ye once I've dealt with business."

That was a dismissal. She rose, balancing the little wraith on her hip. Jennifer then realised she had no idea where she was meant to go. Maybe she could use that to her advantage. She walked past the group, ignoring their persistent stares. She'd noted where the women came and went from as they had brought refreshments and water to clean Kitten. Ducking her way through the curtained door, Keller's eyes immediately darted around, taking in her surroundings and looking for an alternative exit.

There!

Trying not to look panicked or desperate, she walked to an open door at the end of the corridor, ignoring those passing by her and Kitten as they walked in and out of rooms either side of her. As soon as she was out of the door, she walked purposefully towards the stake boundary fence. She could feel her nerves on edge, paranoid that this was far too easy and any moment, someone was going to grab her and pull her back. There was a guard nearby, but he seemed more intent on his own self-gratification than on his sentry duty, and thus on noticing her.

As she walked on, nearing the guard and a gap in the barrier, there was a whimper from the wraith still balanced on her hip. Keller looked down at the terrified child. She had to go now! The kid would only slow her down, and she would need any advantage she could get. She was no Teyla. And anyway, the others would point out that he was just a wraith.

But…

In a snap decision, she shifted the little wraith to her chest and ran. She could feel him clinging to her neck for comfort, as she tried to put as much distance between them and the mercenaries as possible. There was a shout from the guard as they passed, but she kept on going. Nothing was going to make her stop until she was certain she was safe. In her flight, she lost her footing in attempt to vault a fallen log. Instinct told her to drop everything and save herself from falling, but maternal impulse forced her to grip the toddler as she fell. The child wailed as she came down hard, jarring her shoulder. She sat up, ignoring the throbbing pain from the joint and checked over her charge. He looked to be okay, but they were both now covered in dark earth and it was impossible to tell for certain.

The breaking of branches informed her that her pursuers were closing in, and her energy was spent. She was weapon-less, exhausted and burdened with the wraith child. Keller rose and stood to face her captors. She would not cower. She almost broke down in tears when she saw who approached. Atlantis had found her! Major Lorne helped her over the log, offering her comfort and to carry her burden. But no one was going to take Kitten from her right now. For one thing, the child refused to let her go. Lorne and his team escorted her to a clearing where Sheppard stood by the puddle jumper.

"Didn't think we left you that long," he joked as he saw the child in her arms. His smile stiffened when he realised what the infant's species was. "You wanna put him down?"

Keller looked at him blankly. What was he talking about?

"Uh, the kid? You wanna, you know, put him down now?"

She looked down at Kitten, still held close to her.

"Not until we're back on Atlantis and I've had a chance to check him over properly."

"It's a wraith," growled Ronon from behind Sheppard, as if no other reason was needed into leaving the child behind. Stubbornly, Keller walked on by and took a seat inside the Jumper, settling Kitten on her lap. Sheppard shrugged to his growling colleague and went and sat in the pilot's seat. The others followed his example.

"He got a name?" he asked as the Jumper took off towards the gate.

"Yes actually," replied Jennifer promptly, dreading any name of Sheppard's devising for her wraith.

"What then?"

"Kit-"she bit her tongue from finishing the word. She was sitting in a jumper full of marines and Colonel Sheppard's team. They would not approve of naming even a young wraith Kitten.

"Kit?" asked Rodney incredulously. "Seriously?"

"You have a problem with him being called Kit?" Jennifer snapped defensively.

"Okay kids, knock it off back there," warned Sheppard. "I don't want to have to pull this thing over to break up any fights. The kid's named Kit, let's leave it at that."

Jennifer cuddled the newly christened Kit close to her, ignoring the extra mud that got onto her clothes and hair. Soon she'd be home and safe, with nothing but nightmares to terrify her.

***

The nightmares started almost as soon as she stepped out of the Jumper and onto Atlantis. Caldwell was in Carter's office and neither Colonel was terribly thrilled with a wraith, even a small one, in the Ancient city. Caldwell was going on about security risks, the dangers that a wraith would bring to everyone in the city. Keller remained silent holding Kit, both of them still in need of a wash but the good Colonel Caldwell had believed this matter to be too urgent for niceties. Carter sat behind her desk as Caldwell ranted, eyeing Keller and Kit together.

"We already know that wraith feed on normal food until they reach puberty," she said, cutting over Caldwell. "From the data that was gathered from the encounter with Ellia."

"Well," stammered Keller, "yes, but there's still an awful lot we don't know about juvenile wraith and their development – "

"Then surely Kit will prove to be very advantageous in learning more about wraith development. Maybe even a way to prevent them developing the need to feed on life force."

"It's possible, I suppose," began Keller, but Kit began to wail, the odd harmonics grating against her ears. "Hey, it's okay." She tried to sooth him. "You're alright now; no one's going to hurt you."

"Can I?" asked Sam, leaving her chair behind the desk. Reluctantly, Jennifer handed Kit to the commander of the city. Kit hiccupped slightly, getting muddy hand prints on Carter's uniform. "Welcome to Atlantis Kit," she said pleasantly.

"You aren't seriously considering – "

"I am in command of Atlantis, not you. I will decide who is and is not welcome here, Caldwell." Handing the child back to his nominative-carer, she brushed some of the muck off her uniform. "Of course, you'll need to organize someone to take care of your charge so he won't interfere with your work as chief medical officer here."

Keller nodded mutely. Something about someone else caring for Kit sent her hackles rising. She'd no idea why. It wasn't like she was getting emotional over a wraith... was she?

***

"Why did you agree to it in the first place?!"

"Because… well, look, it doesn't matter, okay?"

Radek looked at Rodney over his glasses. "You're trying to impress Dr Keller aren't you?"

"What?!" spluttered McKay. "Of course not! She's just over-worked since she's only just got back from being kidnapped at the moment so I just offered to –"

"You hate children though," the Czech scientist pointed out. "You have said it many times."

"Well, this is different," replied Rodney huffily.

"It's a wraith toddler! You hate wraith even more than children!"

Rodney glanced down at the root of the argument. The wraith brat continued to look up at him with those big trusting eyes, looking only slightly baffled by everything. Remember it's a wraith, he told himself. No matter how cute it tries to look, it's still an evil, green-skinned wraith. "Just… give it some pens or something. That keeps kids quiet, right?"

Zelenka looked dubiously at McKay. Was the man so ignorant? The child, despite the fact it was a wraith, didn't look to be older than two. But Rodney was stubborn. Radek watched as the Canadian scientist coaxed the toddler to one corner, unwilling to actually pick up the child, and gave the little wraith a pack of pens and some paper. With a smug look at Zelenka, he returned to his desk.

"See? Nothing to it."

You're not sitting where I am, thought Radek as he watched the toddler draw a large spiral over the paper and surrounding floor. Rodney had to give the child permanent markers, didn't he? The man was truly incompetent.

"I'm going to get some lunch," he sighed. Rodney ignored him as Zelenka pushed back his chair and left the lab for the cafeteria. McKay continued to work on oblivious to the antics of the little wraith behind him. Having drawn all over the surrounding floor, Kit had moved onto colouring the walls. When Rodney decided to take a nap at his work station, the toddler had started to draw on the nearest desk. Zelenka returned in time to stop him from taste-testing the pens as well. Radek was more than a little put out by McKay's lackadaisical attitude to child-minding. As he looked over the toddler's artwork, an idea formed for a revenge long over due his colleague.

When Keller came to collect Kit after her shift, she found a colourful McKay spouting even more colourful language at an unhappy and confused Kit. Zelenka meanwhile was having a quiet fit of laughter nearby.

***

Keller walked along the corridor with Kit in her arms. Was it so hard to find a babysitter in Atlantis who wasn't incompetent, busy or reluctant to care for a wraith child, so she could get on with her job? She was beginning to worry that if looking after Kit started to cut into her work too much, Carter would insist that they got rid of him. The thought of loosing Kit was starting to worry her more and more of late. Jostling Kit so she could free her hand, she opened the door of the quarters she had come to.

Teyla looked up from her medative pose on her bed and smiled to Jennifer. "Dr Keller, it is good to see you. Is there something you wished to see me about?"

"Um, yes. It's about Kit here- Hey!" She tried to pull her ponytail out of Kit's grasp before he started chewing it. He'd been doing it a lot lately. Teyla laughed quietly, rising from the bed and coming to her with her arms open.

"Here, let me," she said, deftly untangling the errant toddler from Jennifer's hair. Kit was staring at Teyla in a sort of strange fascination."I have heard a lot about you," she said to the little wraith. Kit reached up and batted one of Teyla's curls. "I do not see why Ronon thinks you are so terrible," she laughed. "You are as harmless as a kitten."

That's my name for him, growled Jennifer mentally. She felt her body tensing to spring into action. Get a grip on yourself! Teyla's a friend, not a threat.

"Do you want me to drop him off at your room after your shift?"

"Hm? What?" asked Keller, brought back to the real world. Teyla was sitting on her bed again, with Kit between her legs attempting to catch her fingers as she brushed them through his short white hair.

"Uh, yeah, that'll be great," she replied with false brightness. "Um, you might want to watch your fingers. He's been biting stuff lately..."

"I am used to helping deal with teething children," Teyla laughed. "Are you teething, little kitten?" she asked the toddler sweetly. Kit merely used the opportunity to grab at her fingers again.

Jennifer bit her lip to stop herself from growling out loud. What was wrong with her?! She had gone to Teyla for help with caring for Kit and now she was acting like a she-bear with toothache. Heck, Teyla would probably be better at looking after Kit than she was. He already seemed to connect with her, probably because of her wraith gene. Was that the problem? Did she really view Teyla as a rival for Kit's affection? She looked again at the scene before her. Teyla, heavily pregnant and seated on her bed, smiling calmly at Kit, who appeared to be enthralled by her. It made Jennifer livid.

With a hurried excuse, she left the room and made her way to the infirmary, her eyes stinging from tears. She left too quickly to see Kit's face fall at her departure.

***

Jennifer tried to keep herself busy to avoid thinking about Kit. Lorne's away team had managed to acquire a broken arm and several large knocks after they were caught in a landslide, two of the botanists had contracted some form of extreme hay fever from a new plant specimen, and of course hypochondriact Rodney kept coming in to complain that something was wrong with him. She only needed one thing to make it a typical day for her.

"Uh, hey, doc?

Right on cue. A Sheppard/ Ronon sparing injury.

Keller led Sheppard to one of the beds. As soon as he was settled, Ronon left rather hurriedly.

"What's up with him?" she asked as she got to work cleaning the cut on Sheppard's head.

"Nothing- Ow! He's just grouchy about a wraith free in Atlantis."

"Kit? He's just a toddler."

"That's what I told him," replied Sheppard, wincing as Keller started to stitch the cut. "Think he's just not happy about a wraith, whatever the size."

"Obviously," she mused. She'd wondered why Ronon had been skimping out on the team medicals after their missions since she started caring for kit. Was he avoiding her too? Like she was somehow infected just by the presence of a wraith? "What do you think of Kit?" she asked Sheppard.

John shrugged as she finished up and indicated that he could get off the bed now. "He's a good kid. Heck, better behaved than most toddlers I've met. Wraith discipline must pay off when it comes to child care. Can't wait to teach him things," he added with a grin.

Jennifer had nightmarish visions of the sort of thing Sheppard might want to teach Kit. She blinked owlishly at him in slight shock. No one was teaching Kit anything other than her, except possibly Sam when Kit was old enough. She would judge what was suitable for her charge's education.

Wow, I must be feeling broody if I'm already considering his education, she thought to herself.

"Look doc," said Sheppard, "we went back to the planet you were taken to. We interrogated some of those mercenaries. Their leader said they raided a wraith breeding facility, took some of the kids and killed their guards."

"I know," she said quietly, remembering her time in the charnel house.

"You did the right thing Keller," assured Sheppard. "I'd have done the same thing if it was me. Most people would."

But not everyone, she thought as Sheppard left and she retuned to her reports. Kit may split the personnel of Atlantis in two.

***

Her shift had ended and she made the tiresome way back to her quarters. What she really wanted right now was a long hot soak in her bath. No, wait, she'd need to get Kit washed and ready for bed first. And he got upset and scared when she tried to get him to sleep on a cot bed that she'd been provided with for the purpose. He would only settle down to sleep if he was in a buddle of blankets on her bed. She wondered if that was a behavioural thing. She'd made a note of it anyway in the book she'd been given for the purpose, so they could have a record of typical wraith infant behaviour. Not that she thought there was anything typical about Kit.

"Dr Keller."

Jennifer stiffened only slightly at the sound of Teyla's voice. Why wasn't she looking after Kit like she said she would? She turned to the Athosian woman, fixing a smile to her face.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

Teyla smiled. "No. I merely wanted to let you know that I have settled Kit in your quarters. I gave him a bath and got him ready for bed. He didn't want to stay on the spare bed in your room though." One point to me, thought Jennifer, because you don't know that Kit hates sleeping anywhere but my bed. "I also wanted to give you something," continued Teyla. "Here."

She held out a soft toy to Jennifer. Tentatively, Jennifer took it and turned it over in her hands. It was a toy rabbit, with floppy ears, soft fur and the manic grin of all children's toys. She looked questioningly at Teyla, who smiled back.

"John brought it back from Earth," she explained, "as a present for my son when he is born. I have already been given many such gifts however, and I believe Kit will appreciate it more." She put a hand companionly on Jennifer's shoulder. "I saw and understood your feelings before when you left this morning. I never wanted to try and take him from you. There is no way that I could."

Still partially unconvinced, Jennifer opened the door to her quarters; Teyla remained standing behind her. Kit looked up from his seat on her bed and his face broke into a pointy toothed grin.

"Jenny Kelly!"

"I hope you don't mind," she heard Teyla say behind her, "I was trying to teach him your name but that was the best I could manage." Jennifer wasn't really listening as tears welled up in her eyes as she crossed the space between her and the little wraith. The delight on his face when she presented the toy to him, telling Kit that it was a 'Snuggly Bunny' to keep him company when she was away, proved to her that Teyla was right.

No one could take Kit away from her.

***

It had been too good to last. Over the following weeks, everything seemed just right and the people of Atlantis had got used to the young wraith around. While some still viewed Kit, and Jennifer as well for looking after him, with suspicion, most people had accepted him with relatively open arms. She not only had Teyla willing to baby-sit him, but he'd also been looked after by the botany department several times, after Jennifer had given them stern warnings about keeping an eye on him and not letting him near any of the specimens. Sheppard had tried to teach Kit new words, which Jennifer and Teyla had proceeded to un-teach him. Everything had seemed, not perfect, but at least ideal for now.

Until one of the away teams discovered a wraith breeding facility on the planet they were visiting.

Keller now stood uneasily at the back of the group with Kit balanced on her hip. Sheppard's plan was simple enough. Leave Kit close to the facility's proximity defences and hope that at least one wraith would come out and take him. Did he really think it would be so simple? But the IOA were starting to take an interest in Kit, which would have meant she would loose him anyway and Carter had agreed to this plan so here they were. The little toddler seemed to pick up on the general sullen mood of the group and her own apprehension, making him whimper.

"Okay this should be far enough," Sheppard said quietly. "Take the kid and leave him out in the open. We'll cover you if any wraith turn up early. Shouldn't be long."

Stiff kneed and stony faced, she walked past him out into the open area in front of the wraith facility. Keeling down, she gently sat Kit on the ground.

"You stay here, okay?" Jennifer said, her voice sounding horribly tinny and bright as she tried to remain cheerful and not upset Kit. "We're playing a new game. You stay here, and I go hide. Like you played with Aunty Teyla, remember?"

"Jenny Kelly stay!"

She felt her heart being shredded by just those few simple words. Would it have been easier if he had never learnt their names, never learnt to speak with them after a fashion? Carefully, knowing that she had to leave quickly before the wraith showed up, Jennifer revealed her secret weapon in Kit obedience.

"Look, Snuggly Bunny's here, so everything is going to be all right." Giving the toy to Kit, she kissed the top of his soft white hair. "I'll be back, I promise. Just… stay put."

"'kay Jenny Kelly."

She turned and fled back to cover with the rest of the team, biting back the tears that threatened to fall.

"You did good," praised Sheppard, though she knew it meant nothing. They waited, and the longer they waited the worse Jennifer felt. Kit was just a child, her child, and she was abandoning him.

"What if no one comes?" she heard Lorne ask. Sheppard spared a glance to Keller before answering.

"Then we keep waiting."

***

Jennifer almost bumped into Colonel Carter as she left her room. She started to make spluttered apologies for almost running the commander of Atlantis over, but Sam brushed them aside.

"I just came by to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine," lied Jennifer, putting down the box she had been carrying. Sam took look through it. Crudely drawn child's drawings of the people of Atlantis, soft toys given as gifts by doting members of the expedition, even a few items that she was been intentionally given to the wraith child yet he had managed to acquire them and bring them back to Jennifer's room. Carter picked out a framed photo from the crate.

"I remember this," she chuckled. "This is from Lieutenant Harrison's birthday party wasn't it?"

"Yeah, right before the camera got chocked up with cake. I never thought cake and jam was such a lethal combination."

"Well, Kit proved they could be." Sam handed the photo back to Jennifer. "You taking out all this stuff?"

"Most of it's going to Teyla," replied Jennifer, "but the IOA wanted anything… personal that was left around. For the records."

Sam looked around Jennifer's quarters. "You know," she said carefully, "you don't have to give them everything. Woolsey is good at turning a blind eye when he wants to." She looked back at Keller. "You should keep something to remind you."

Nodding, saying she'd think about it, Jennifer waited until Sam had left before sitting down on her bed and taking out the photo album she had hidden under the pillow. She looked over the happy pictures, trying to burn away the last ever image she had of Kit. Terrified, in the hands of a wraith drone while one of the wraith officers examined Kit like he was some new specimen he hadn't come across and considered adding to his collection. She only had the others' word that Kit had been safely taken into the wraith facility; she had fled back to the Jumper when Kit had started to wail at his treatment. Ronon had followed her shortly after, offering her awkward comfort since both knew that he never liked Kit being around. Jennifer was happy that he made an effort for her sake though. It was clear to everyone how attached she had become of the wraith toddler.

"Dr Keller, come in please," crackled a voice over her radio. Sighing, she put down her photo album and put on her ear clip.

"Go ahead."

As she left her room at a slight jog to get to the medical emergency that she was summoned for, the photo album fell open at a picture. It was her favourite, and with a little help from a few of the more technologically savvy members of Atlantis who knew about photo manipulation, she had even been able to send a copy to her dad.

Keller and Kit, mother and child, happy together, smiling and secure

She hoped nothing would ever dampen the love and confidence he brought her.

FIN

* * *

**I wrote this originally because I wanted to do something about pansy Keller, especially after watching "Missing". I was not happy that they had replaced Carson with such a screamer!**

**That was the original reason.**

**However, Kit started to prove very popular on the GateWorld Forum when I mentioned him to my friends there so I have to say a big thanks to them because they helped me develop his character. (where else would I have got him drawing on Rodney with permanent markers?)**

**Please Read and Review. It's much appreciated.**


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